Senator Ted Cruz defended Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Wednesday during a pointed appearance on "The View," where the co-hosts challenged him over affirmative action and the arguments in his new book, "The Incomparable Clarence Thomas."

The conversation repeatedly returned to Thomas' experience and his understanding of constitutional protections, as reported by Fox News.

Sunny Hostin opened the questioning by addressing Thomas' belief that affirmative action diminished his achievements because it allowed people to think he had not earned his place at Yale.

She said affirmative action was created to give qualified Black students opportunities at institutions that historically denied those opportunities.

Trump's Sovereign Wealth Fund: What Could It Mean For Your Money?

Hostin then pressed Cruz about the framing of Thomas' experience in the book.

She asked, "So what I don’t understand how you handle in the book is, why is the lesson from his experience that we should eliminate the remedy rather than eliminate the racism that made the remedy necessary?"

Hostin continued to challenge the argument and told Cruz, "I mean, I genuinely don't understand the framing in the book about that."

Thomas sided with the Supreme Court majority in its 2023 ruling on affirmative action.

FREE Gun Law Map: Laws Don't Pause During Social Unrest

Cruz responded by saying that affirmative action "encompasses a lot of things" and began explaining Thomas' position.

He distinguished efforts to remove barriers and expand access from policies involving quotas and racial discrimination.

"If you're talking about removing barriers, if you're talking about expanding access, then I'm for that, he's for that, everyone is for that," Cruz said.

He then turned to the constitutional principle that he said Thomas has consistently defended.

Cruz continued, "If you're talking about quotas and discriminating based on race, then Justice Thomas has been the clearest defender of the principle that the Constitution prohibits the government discriminating based on race."

Hostin responded by asking why Thomas believed his Yale degree had been diminished because people thought it resulted from affirmative action.

Cruz said the concern was tied to what Thomas experienced after completing law school.

According to Cruz, Thomas performed well at Yale Law School but was unable to secure a position with any of the law firms where he interviewed.

"Not a single law firm would hire him. Every law firm he interviewed said, ‘No.'" Cruz said while recounting Thomas' experience. Whoopi Goldberg immediately interjected with a blunt response: "Welcome to being Black."

Goldberg then noted that Thomas was a constitutional scholar and questioned how he viewed the country's founding document in light of the treatment of Black Americans.

She asked how Thomas could overlook that Black people were not originally included equally under the Constitution.

"How does he not remember that we weren't part of the Constitution? Right? We were not. So there's a reason people didn't start off; we weren't all equal," Goldberg said.

Cruz replied that Thomas had discussed those issues at length.

Cruz pointed to the Civil War, Reconstruction, and three constitutional amendments while explaining his answer.

He said, "The 13th Amendment ended slavery. The 14th Amendment protected equal protection. And the 15th Amendment protected the right to vote, specifically for African Americans."

Goldberg responded by asking why the country was still discussing those issues if the constitutional amendments protected those rights.

"So why are we still talking about it if it protects all of this? That's the thing, I guess," she said before ending the interview because the show had run out of time.

The exchange concluded without additional discussion from Cruz on the program. Cruz's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital following the interview.

Earlier in the show, Goldberg had admonished members of "The View" audience after they groaned when Cruz was announced as an upcoming guest.

She reminded them that Barbara Walters had established the show as a place where people could come and have conversations.

"Look, this is a place where Barbara Walters made sure that anybody who wanted to come and have a good conversation could come," Goldberg said as she shut down the negative audience reaction.

She added that the hosts do not always agree or connect with their guests, but they remain respectful.

Goldberg also compared the audience's reaction to swallowing a burp rather than letting it out. "Sometimes you know stuff; it’s like a burp. It comes up, and so just swallow it back down."

The opinions expressed by contributors and/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Objectivist. Contact us for guidelines on submitting your own commentary.